I want to mention that here was another "incident" in northern Maspeth early this morning involving a suspicious person sitting in a backyard drinking beer. If you recall, two or three weeks ago we sent out a Community Alert regarding a similiar incident in the vicinity of 72nd Place/53rd where a resident looked out his window and saw a male sitting in his neighbor's yard early in the morning. He called 911 but the male disappeared when he realized he was spotted. The 104th did a canvass but didn't find him.

The complainant to this original incident received a text at 5:00 am this morning from Sgt. Jeremenko, 104th Precinct, stating they had taken in a man found drinking a beer in a backyard not too far away. Three officers responded to the original complainant's house to show him some pictures to see if he could identify the individual as being the same person he observed. Unfortunately, none of the photos resembled the male in the first incident.

At this time I don't have specifics as to how this person was apprehended or exactly where the incident occurred. We can assume someone called 911 since the male was in a backyard. The location isn't that important because this could happen anywhere.

Yesterday I emailed Elmhurst folks and those on the border to let them know that the 110th Precinct has 40 additional officers who will be patroling areas of the command where there are crime patterns, etc. The Comet area of Elmhurst is not part of their "impact" zone because luckily we haven't had any crime. That's good news. The bad news is that oftentimes when there is high police visibility in aparticular area, crime moves to an adjacent community. That being the case, everyone needs to be especially alert.

Don't forget, the male in the backyard could have been watching folks to see when they leave for work or shopping. He could be looking for an open window. He could be part of a team.

Keep your garages and sheds locked at all times and don't leave lawn mowers, or other valuable items out for someone to steal.